“Lies Hidden In My Garden” Ending Explained- Episode 8 Recap And Review

The ENA drama “Lies Hidden In My Garden” has come to an end, let us discuss the shocking ending and explain the finale.

“Lies Hidden In My Garden” episode 8 recap

The episode begins with Joo Ran coming to pick up her husband. She asks him why he proposed to her like that recalling how he proposed to her at the funeral of her sister. He explains he thought they’d never betray each other and will always be together since they’re now family.

Joo Ran recalls a conversation she had with her neighbor. The neighbor explained her husband wasn’t killed by her and she was in fact trapped in that house. She was sort of confined. She was found with her husband a month after his death, he merely died because he had a heart attack, but everyone blamed her for it.

When her husband then calls and asks if she wants anything, she doesn’t say anything.

The scene goes back to when Sang Eun asked if he’s asleep, he then wakes up and stabs her with sleeping solution.

The scene then goes back to when Joo Ran and Jae-Ho had a discussion, they came to the conclusion that she would never stop showing up and would never stop asking them for money or pestering them. They come to the conclusion that she should be killed.

When we go back to the present situation, Joo Ran hands Sang Eun who just woke up a scalpel. She tells her to pretend to be asleep. She then argues with her husband asking him why he lied to her and why he killed Seung-Jae told him he was the witness to when he killed Soo Min.

He explains he did so because they wouldn’t have stayed together if he hadn’t done that. Because if he says Seung-Jae did it, she wouldn’t look at him funny and recall that dead woman all the time.

As they’re arguing, Sang Eun uses the scalpel to free herself, he hears something so he goes near her and then gets stabbed in the face. They get into a confrontation and he beats the living crap out of her and beats her up in the stomach repeatedly.

Joo Ran then decides to tell him to stop, she used the scalpel on her wrist. She says this is his last chance, he should just turn himself to the police. He refuses and slaps her. As he grabs her by the hair, she stabs him in the thigs with the scalpel. She runs upstairs.

Meanwhile, the neighbor sees Sang eun struggling and then goes to see whats happening.

Jae-Ho then tells Joo Ran its her fault this happened, its also her fault her sister died. She’s broken hearing this. As they hear the sound of bell ringing, Sang Eun throws a vase at the window breaking it to piece prompting the neighbor to call for police.

Joo Ran says, ‘in the end, its all your fault.’ She pushes him off the stairs, he died upon impact.

Joo Ran then gets questioned by police. She tells the story as is but lies and says her husband killed Sang Eun’s husband. Sang eun is surprised to hear this after being questioned by police. She agrees with what she said. Ultimately, Sang Eun is awarded the insurance money because of this.

Sang Eun testifies as the trial ends and tells the judge she regrets living in fear of her anxiety and says it consumed her so much so she couldn’t live and be herself. She gets sentenced to some time in jail.

As she exits the court, Sang Eun watches from afar. She recalls when she visited her at detention. She is mad about what happened. She says, ‘was it your plan to get rid of me and Mr. Park?’ Joo Ran then asks why she decided to help her, she says without Sang Eun, she would still be living in her delusions. She thanks her for opening her eyes.

A while later

Joo Ran has been released from jail, and Sang Eun now has a son. He’s healthy and she’s happy. She works with her friend from work at a bakery. She’s living a good life.

In voiceover, they both ask each other, ‘are you living your life?’ both are.

Joo Ran is back with her family dining in the backyard of their home.

The end.  

“Lies Hidden In My Garden” ending explained

“Lies Hidden In My Garden” Episode 8 Review

Well, this was an ending that becomes dumber the more you think about it. I would say this is one of the most disappointing endings of a 2023 k-drama.

I have a lot to talk about “Lies Hidden In My Garden” ending, so let us begin.

I feel like the entirety of the first six episodes of the last two episodes don’t Have much of A connection… in the sense that the ending doesn’t feel in any way sort or form connected to whatever that was happening throughout the drama’s run time.

So, I’ve been hearing from people online that the dramas ending is different from the actual novel ending which this drama was based on…. Which explains a lot of things. This one is happier and you can tell something went wrong in terms of the script writing somewhere.

First things first, I think the elephant in the room needs to be addressed, and it’s the fact that Joo Ran’s decided to bring a Pregnant woman to her house… this was about the dumbest decision made by a lead character in a K drama that I’ve seen in some time. It is so dumb to the point it is actually quite puzzling it even made onto the script, was greenlit and shot.

This is the type of ending that a Screenwriter would construct while brainstorming and would think would works on first read, but the entire idea falls through the moment you begin to think it through.

She brings a pregnant woman and gets herself and the husband; who she knows is deranged; into a horrible situation. Just how was this supposed to end? If that neighbor hadn’t seen Sang eun, both would have been dead… and what for?

Wouldn’t it have been better if she just turned him to police and used her son as a witness? She could have worn a wire and then turned him into police. Wouldn’t that have been the best option?

And also, that final scene where she kills him was so unnecessary… he backed away from her and knew well it was over the moment he heard the bell. She could have ran down the stairs, took Sang Eun and screamed into the garden, people would have gathered and he would have immediately become helpless…. Her instinct was to kill him when she knew as well that it was over too…. I mean, if he was still trying to strangle her, I would have said otherwise

I don’t doubt he would have tried something but if she screamed and just ran outside, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything regardless of how crazy he was.

Also, the fact that Sang Eun some how got the money and then kept the baby is ridiculous. How that baby stayed alive was a mystery to me.

While I sympathize with how much she was abused, the way she got her happy ending was not to my liking because it sort of sends the message of ‘kill him and disguise it as a suicide,’ I think if she had lost her child, it could have served as the ‘price’ so to speak that she had to pay for killing a life.

What puzzles me is why she decided to kill him suddenly…. wasn’t she recording the abuse and in the process of filing a divorce suit? The writer just dropped that idea…. Regardless of the outcome of whatever could have happened, I think it would have shown clearly the cracks within the system and why women can’t escape after divorce or such…we didn’t get a resolution to that integral point because he was always sh*tty but why did she just suddenly think of killing him.

Also, how on earth was she able to successfully execute the murder and disguise it as a suicide. The entire investigation arc was done badly too.

The more I think about the ending or the drama, I begin to see cracks. I think if you watch without thinking much it would be better even when the drama invites ‘over-thinking.’

I think a good twist could have been how it was the son who killed Soo Min all along and the father was trying to protect the mother, but since he’s also a classical A-list gaslighter, it went over her head, and she ended up killing him manipulated by her son who used similar tactics on her. I think if this point was slightly tweaked, then his death would have made more sense to me because it would show how horrible he’s been and how his actions inadvertently caused his demise while also showing how Joo Ran was deeply unstable and never truly recovered.

The issue above all is how it should Joo Ran suddenly sort of became ‘awake’ the moment she knew her son wasn’t the killer which wouldn’t make sense in the case of mental health issues because they can’t just ‘go away’ suddenly.

The clearest lesson the drama is trying to talk about is how physical and mental abuse can take a toll on a woman’s health and how she can be confined, even though she has sometimes the ‘freedom’ to sort of walk away from it

There are many examples as sprinkled, and each one of these three women cases differ. But they all boiled down to being controlled by men, and I think in theory this message should work, but in reality, it does not work due to the finale’s execution.

I liked the drama a lot up until episode 7, I thought the twist with the son was great, but the handling of the finale episodes definitely leaves much to be desired.